Sunday, November 30, 2014

To celebrate the beginning of the festive season I booked a meal at Brasserie Blanc for a group of friends (who also happen to be fellow coeliacs).

Emily and I have dined there before and have eaten from the summer menu, so we were looking forward to seeing what the winter selection had to offer gluten free diners. We weren't disappointed.

There's a good choice on the gluten free menu (which is also marked with vegetarian and dairy free options) so we took our time picking while enjoying some wine. It makes a real change to have a good range of options, rather than having a 'choice' of one dish for starter, main and dessert (if you're lucky).

I had the salt beef salad to start, followed by the pork belly - it had great crackling - and the excellent chocolate souffle for dessert.

What a pudding! The Chocolate Souffle was delicious. The first I've had since my diagnosis of Coeliac Disease in 2008!

The meal was the third I've had at Brasserie Blanc in St Albans and I've thoroughly enjoyed each one. We're looking forward to returning in the New Year.

As a coeliac dining out gluten free can be fraught, but the staff at Brasserie Blanc are able to answer gluten/gluten free-related questions, or double check with the kitchen, which adds to the confidence that you are going to eat safely.

Five new gluten free tortilla chip flavours available at Marks & Spencer.

There are Jalapeno, Fire Roasted Chilli and Nacho Cheese flavour Tortillas, as well as the Lime Salsa Chickpea & Cumin Tortilla Scoops.

After a great early-Christmas meal at the nearby Brasserie Blanc in St Albans our group of Coeliacs headed to M&S as three of the party don't live near a store and were desperate to get some of the gluten & wheat free Scotch Eggs. I was very pleased to see the new range of gluten free Tortilla chips in stock - as were some other shoppers as they were flying off the shelves!

I've had the lime salsa scoops before and they were very tasty. But nacho cheese tortilla chips are a flavour I've missed over the years as you can't always find gluten free packs available.

There is also a lightly salted flavour in the range. I didn't bother getting a packet of those as I've never been a big fan of less-flavoured tortillas.

In the St Albans M&S you can find the gluten free tortillas in amongst the other 'normal' crisps and snacks, whereas in the Ipswich branch the lime salsa tortillas are in the Made Without Wheat section.

While having a day out in London Emily and I had a wander along the Southbank and spotted a Christmas Tree Maze!

The Christmas Tree Maze at the Southbank Centre's Winter Festival

Unfortunately when we went to the Box Office to buy a ticket (£4 each) we were told that the maze was being resurfaced and wouldn't be open again for a few hours. A bit of a shame.

Bah humbug. The theme of finding things we want to do to be closed, abandoned or derelict, continued at the Southbank Centre's Winter Festival as we weren't able to get lost or find the centre of the Christmas Tree Maze

Instead we went for a drinking chocolate and bought an excellent prize from the Christmas Market for our upcoming Christmas 'Do' at The Freemason's Arms in Hampstead.

The Southbank Centre's Christmas Tree Maze is filled with 300 Black Forest Christmas Trees and we think it'll look great at night.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Postcard collector, writer and blogger Guy Atkins has a book out and it's well worth a look.

Come Home at Once by Guy Atkins. Currently the number one read on our coffee table

Published by Bantam Press the book, 'Come Home at Once', has a lot of great Edwardian postcards (showing both the fronts and the messages on the back) from Guy's collection that he has built up over the last decade.

You can buy the very nice hardback book in the shops and online. More info on how and where to order can be found on Guy's excellent Postcardese blog.

After speaking with Guy via postcards, twitter and email over the years it was great to meet Guy in person at the recent launch event for his book

I've been corresponding with Guy for the last couple of years - mostly by Twitter and Postcard - and he recently wrote a piece in his regular column in Stamp and Coin Mart about my minigolfing and postcard hobbies and how I've combined the two.

The hotel is in a good spot, has nice clean rooms, parking and great customer service. It all helps to make a stay there pleasant and with the introduction of new and very comfortable beds we're ready to #GetUpandGo in the many individual and team tournaments we play in at the seaside resort.

The variation on the classic format of the sport saw competitors use 60 pence worth of two penny pence pieces to win as much tat from the buttons at the amusement arcade next door and a few from the Old Town Amusements.

The loot won by the winner of the first-ever 60p Tat Challenge

The first shootout took place on the evening of Saturday 22 November and five of the finest exponents of the endurance game took on the challenge to see how much they could win with just thirty bronzes.

The gold medal went to Will Donnelly who scored an amazing four pieces of Tat with his stake.

Will 'The Winner' Donnelly and his haul at the amusement arcade in Hastings

A happy/surprise John 'Big Al' Moore with three minions in his winnings

Seth 'Two Bits' Thomas and his winnings

Richard Gottfried and a 'lego' man from the tupenny falls

The biggest hands in the sport of Tat Challenging, but Dave Donnelly drew a blank in the first-ever 60p Tat Challenge

Shootout two in the short form of the game saw Seth, Richard and Big Al return and were joined by Huntingdonshire's newest son and avid tatter Steve Lovell. Local competitor John 'Big Top Ted' McIver was unfortunate as he missed the start of the contest, as well as the end, as he was waylaid en route to the arena by his need to buy some chips.

With a bit apiece Steve and Seth picked up the win. The other competitors blanked. But at least Ted got some chips.

Steve Lovell and Seth Thomas are happy with their 'haul'. Each winner got to keep the one piece they'd won